Norsepower Oy Ltd., a leading provider of low-maintenance, software operated, and data verified auxiliary wind propulsion systems, has announced that its CEO Tuomas Riski is this year’s recipient of the ‘Young Entrepreneur Award’. The accolade was presented to Tuomas yesterday, by His Royal Highness Prince Haakon of Norway, during the opening ceremony of the 2017 Nor-Shipping Conference.
Launched in 2013 in collaboration with Nor-Shipping and YoungShip International, the Nor-Shipping Young Entrepreneur Award recognizes and honors innovators aged under 40 that are working to address critical shipping industry issues in a new way.
Since Norsepower was founded in 2012, Tuomas has successfully led the eight-strong team responsible for making wind-assisted propulsion a commercial reality. The Norsepower Rotor Sail Solution is a modernised version of the Flettner rotor, a spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind energy and propel ships. The solution, which is suitable for both newbuilds and retrofitting, has the ability to deliver fuel and emissions savings of up to 20% when wind conditions are favorable. The company recently announced that it will install the technology on a 109,647-deadweight tonne (DWT) tanker owned by leading shipowner and operator Maersk and in collaboration with Shell.